


love at first fight

by cabinfever



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 11:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16533929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cabinfever/pseuds/cabinfever
Summary: It’s probably the cruelest cosmic accident that, upon seeing your soulmate for the first time, you have the irresistible urge to fight them. Most people are able to laugh it off afterwards, and usually there’s no harm done. Just a punch or two.Naturally, this becomes a problem when your soulmate is an officer in the Galaxy Garrison.





	love at first fight

**Author's Note:**

> for [dallie,](http://www.ganondoofs.tumblr.com) who proposed a soulmate au where you immediately want to fight your soulmate when you first meet them.

The first time Keith sees Takashi Shirogane, he punches him in the face.

It’s not like he means to. Or he kind of does, but if he had any say in it, he probably wouldn’t do it over again.

So it happens like this:

He’s in class. That’s nothing new, and that’s the worst part of it; if he could leave the classroom and never sit in another one again, he’d probably die happy. That’s the dream. Until then, he’s at his desk, resolutely ignoring his teacher as she introduces their visitor from the Galaxy Garrison. 

_ Takashi Shirogane. _

_ Youngest pilot to lead a mission to space. _

Keith twirls his pencil between his fingers and glares out at the parking lot. This Garrison idiot doesn’t have anything for him. He’s read Shirogane’s name on the net enough times to know that his sales pitch is probably about being a hero. Keith doesn’t need heroes. He won’t listen.

But then he hears his voice, and something about it is immediately more interesting than the parking lot out the window. It’s more like the soft rasp of shoes through desert sand, strong without being gravelly. 

He wants to wrap himself up in that voice.

He has to see this pilot.

Keith looks away from the window, and everything falls into slow motion.

His eyes meet Officer Shirogane’s, and the first thing Keith realizes is that they’re the most incredible shade of gray. The second thing is that Officer Shirogane has stopped whatever he’s saying. The third thing is this:

His face is so punchable.

And all Keith feels is  _ rage.  _

He’s out of his desk in a heartbeat, leaping out of his chair and in a straight line towards Officer Shirogane. The problem is that there are several occupied desks in the way, so the only way there is  _ over.  _ So over he goes.

One step brings him on top of a desk, then another. He nearly slips when his foot plants firmly on a girl’s paper, but he just harnesses the momentum and uses it to spring to the next desk. Nothing can stop him now; he has to obey the burning, coiling rage that’s setting his whole mind aflame. All he can see is Shirogane.

Officer Shirogane’s face twists briefly into an answering snarl, and Keith decides that he needs to punch that aggression right out of him.

He winds up, leaps off the desk in the front row, and lands fist-first on Takashi Shirogane’s face.

Distantly, he realizes that this guy has really nice bone structure.

He realizes this because his knuckles hit that bone structure.  _ Hard. _

They crash to the ground, and Keith thinks that this is all going pretty well.

The next thing he knows, James Griffin is holding him back by his wrists, yelling, “Snap out of it, Keith!”

And Officer Shirogane is unconscious on the ground.

Keith shrugs out of Griffin’s grasp with a muttered curse, feeling the anger drain out of him. It leaves him breathless. “I’m fine,” he hisses when Griffin tries to grab him again.

“Yeah,” Griffin says, “but he’s not!”

And he points at Officer Shirogane.

“Oh my god,” one of his classmates says. “You knocked him out.”

“Oh my god,” Keith repeats, dropping his aching hand to his side. 

He just knocked out a Galaxy Garrison officer. That officer is lying on his classroom floor with red blooming across his cheek.

And worse-

He’s  _ hot. _

 

* * *

 

As it turns out, there’s protocol for this sort of thing.

A police officer takes him by the shoulder and says, “Pretty bold to go for a Garrison pilot.”

“Hey, don’t touch me,” he mutters, shrugging off the officer’s hand. “I didn’t mean to punch him. I just-”

“Couldn’t help yourself?” The officer nods, and his face is a peculiar mix of sympathy and exasperation. 

Keith shrugs, folding his arms as tightly as he can. “Maybe.”

The answering sigh has a note to it that just makes Keith guiltier, and another emotion bubbles in his chest that he can’t quite name. “We’re going to need to make sure Officer Shirogane won’t press charges, but if not, you’re covered by the clause for soulmate interactions.” 

There’s that word.

Keith winces.

The officer makes another note on his pad, clicks his pen a few times, and then looks Keith up and down. “You’re clear to go, pal.”

It’s not worth it for Keith to snap that that’s not his name; he’s probably in enough trouble as it is. Instead, he shrugs and wanders away from the officer, heading instead to where the EMTs are loading Officer Shirogane into an ambulance. Before he can stop himself, he tugs on the sleeve of the EMT that’s hopping into the back of the ambulance as well.

“Can I, uh…”

The EMT looks down at him, raising a wry eyebrow. “Wanna come with?”

Keith bites his lip. He nods.

“Come on, then.”

Keith clambers into the back of the ambulance, and they head off.

It’s weird to be back here with someone who’s unconscious. It’s weirder because Keith’s the one who made him that way.

“Soulmates, huh?” the EMT asks into the silence.

Keith shrugs. “Guess so.”

He hums and looks down at Shirogane’s face, and at the bruise blooming there. “You really got him, kid.”

That’s not exactly reassuring. Keith hunches over in his seat, crossing his arms. He’s not going to reply to that.

When they get to the hospital, a doctor and a few orderlies guide them further into the emergency ward. Shirogane’s not an urgent case, thankfully. Keith trails along beside the gurney, keeping one hand on the chrome arc of it. He doesn’t dare touch any skin. The urge to fight Shirogane has long since passed, and now the reality of what he’s done has sort of set in, as well as what this means.

Shirogane’s eyes flutter open for a moment along the way, and he focuses right on Keith. “You…” he murmurs, but he trails off.

“Don’t talk,” Keith whispers down at him. He’s panicking only a little bit.

The look in Shirogane’s eyes gets a little unfocused, and then it goes glassy, and then he closes his eyes again with a sigh.

_ Shit. _

Did he really hit him that hard?

The doctor looks over his shoulder at Keith. “You get…“ He looks Keith up and down. “You get to stay with him. Since Mr. Shirogane is apparently your soulmate.”

Keith flinches again. It’s horrible when they just say it like that. He doesn’t even know this guy. But it’s not like he’s going to leave him behind, especially when he’s the one responsible for his maybe-concussion. He’s already taken the ambulance here; he’s sort of locked in at this point. All or nothing. “Thanks,” he says, and he brushes past the doctor, following Shirogane’s gurney as they wheel it towards one of the rooms. No use saying anything elaborate; any sort of attempt to say something more would just make him look like an idiot. 

God, because he really is an idiot, isn’t he?

The doctors put Shirogane in a private room and perform a series of check ups. They tell Keith that he’ll be fine, and Keith isn’t sure what to do with that information. He doesn’t  _ know  _ this guy. But the doctors seem to trust him because of course some cosmic force was what made him knock Officer Shirogane unconscious.

Great.

Somewhere along the way, Keith turns the TV on. He flips through the channels, keeping the volume low. He might be here for a while.

He checks his phone too, but there’s nothing new. His foster parents don’t even send a message. Keith checks his inbox a few times to make sure, but the result is always the same. Figures; they probably just expect him to get in trouble now.

He’s not bitter about it. He’s not.

Someone clears their throat in the bed.

Keith nearly jumps out of his skin; he looks over.

Takashi Shirogane’s staring at him with wide gray eyes.

_ Holy shit. _

All Keith can say is, “You’re awake.”

“I was going to ask if I was dreaming,” Shirogane says, a little slowly, “but I don’t think my mind would have placed my attacker at my bedside.”

Keith almost snaps at him, but Shirogane’s tone is teasing in a way that doesn’t feel malicious. Just...joking. Light. Nobody usually takes the time to crack a joke with the problem kid instead of at him. “Guess you don’t have any other next of kin.”

Shirogane shakes his head. “No. Or at least none that could get off duty.”

“That sucks.” Keith picks at the edge of the sheet. It’s kind of cheap material, which is a shame. Don’t sick people deserve more than this?

“So you got roped into sticking around?” Shirogane’s lips twist into a small smile, voice desert-dry with something Keith thinks might be amusement. The sheets rustle, tugging Keith’s sequestered fragment out of his grip, and so he’s forced to meet Shirogane’s eyes. “Sorry to keep you from class.”

The mere thought of sitting in class has Keith wrinkling his nose. He says, “I don’t think I mind.”

“I don’t know why they took me to the hospital,” Shirogane says, picking at the plastic bracelet on his wrist. “I feel fine.”

Keith watches the movement and looks down at his own. It lists his name, and then Shirogane’s, like they’re connected somehow. Or. They are, but it’s not like they’re close. Keith doesn’t deserve to be here. He mutters, “You cracked your head on the ground a bit, I think.” He looks up through the fringe of his hair. “Sorry.”

“Hey. No harm done.”

“Uh, yes, harm done,” Keith retorts.

“Nothing I can’t just walk off.”

“Okay, but that’s not the point, and I’m pretty sure you can’t walk off a concussion.”

“What’s the worst that’ll happen if I try to leave?” Shirogane asks. “You’ll hit me again?”

Okay. Low blow. 

“Look, Mr. Shirogane-”

“Shiro.” He sounds almost pained. “It’s so weird if you call me by a title. People call me Shiro. You can call me that too.” He stops and flushes bright red. “If you want.”

“Shiro,” Keith tries. It sounds nice. “I’m Keith.”

“Keith,” Shiro repeats, and Keith decides he likes the sound of that.

Before he can lose his nerve, he blurts, “Can we stop avoiding it?”

Shiro raises an eyebrow. “Avoid…?”

“We’re…” As it turns out, it’s hard to say it out loud. He settles for gesturing wildly between the two of them with one hand. It’s the bruised hand, the one with knuckles that still sort of ache from making intimate contact with Shiro’s cheekbone. “You know.”

Slowly, Shiro’s hand raises and his fingertips skitter across the blue bruise blooming across his cheek. He winces a bit at the touch and meets Keith’s eyes. Keith’s immediately reminded of just how storm-gray they are. “Soulmates?”

That word again.

“Uh. Yeah. Guess so.”

“Guess so.” Shiro pushes a long lock of dark hair out of his own eyes. “That’s what this whole thing means, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me.”

Keith snaps back, “I never said that.” And that’s surprising to him too; because he’s never told himself that either. This is a learning experience for both of them.

Maybe Shiro didn’t expect to hear him say that either, because his gray eyes widen just a bit. A little smile curls its way across his lips, and Keith decided that he likes the way it looks. But just as swiftly, the smile disappears, and Shiro says, “I, uh. I have a boyfriend. It’s serious.”

Keith nods. “I’m not gonna stop you.” He’s got no right. Not really. He looks down, though, before he asks, “What’re you gonna tell him?”

“That I met you.” Shiro pauses. “Or that your fist met my face.”

“Shiro,” Keith protests weakly, and it feels easy to fall for the bait. “I didn’t  _ mean-” _

“I know, I know.” Shiro waves a hand to appease him. “But the point stands. I’m going to tell him. And, you know. We can still talk. Still be friends, right? Plenty of people don’t end up with their soulmates.”

That’s true. Keith nods.

“You’ve got a hell of an arm, though. You’re a fighter.” Shiro tilts his head, and a wry smile crosses his lips. Keith thinks he likes that expression. It’s good, because Shiro seems to make it pretty often. “You ever think of joining the Galaxy Garrison?”

Keith surprises himself by laughing incredulously. Shiro’s eyes widen briefly when he does, and Keith almost relishes the innocent confusion on his face before he splutters, “You’re recruiting me while sitting in a hospital bed I put you in?”

“Well, it was kinda what I was trying to do back at your school.” Shiro shrugs. “And then you gave me a concussion, so. Y’know.”

“Yeah.”

“Here.” Shiro reaches over the side of his bed and picks up his bag, rifling through it before he produces a well-lettered piece of paper. He holds it out to Keith. “You don’t need to hold onto it, but. You know.”

“No, I’ll take it.” Keith glances down at the page; it’s detailing the benefits and requirements for joining up with the academy at the Galaxy Garrison. “Can you...can you become a pilot?” he asks. He looks at Shiro. “Like you.”

Shiro tilts his head to the side. The weight of his gaze makes Keith’s heart stutter and stop, but it doesn’t feel like rage this time. He just wants Shiro to keep looking at him like that. “If you can fly, then sure. I don’t see why not.”

“Cool, I. Uh.” Keith crumples the paper in his hand and immediately regrets it. It was a nice paper. He backs up towards the door. “I’ll see you then, I guess. At the Garrison, I mean. I’ll - I’ll join.” Fuck, he can’t talk.

“Don’t be late.”

“Hey,” Keith says, one hand on the doorway. “I’m never late. I beat you to the punch, remember?”

Takashi Shirogane laughs -  _ really  _ laughs - and it’s the best sound Keith’s ever heard. “Go back to school, cadet,” he orders, still smiling broadly. “I expect to see you at 0800 tomorrow.”

“I’m not saluting you,” Keith warns.

“Had to try.” Shiro lifts his hand in a wave. “Thanks for the concussion, Keith. Nice meeting you.”

“Nice meeting you,” Keith echoes, and he flees before he makes a fool of himself.

He makes it halfway down the hallway before he leans against the wall in between rooms and carefully unfolds the crumpled paper that Shiro gave him. He smooths it out as nicely as possible, because it should look good, because Shiro trusted him to be there at 0800-

“Oh my god,” he says, staring down at the Garrison flyer.

He thinks he might have a crush on his soulmate.

**Author's Note:**

> consider this: sparring as flirting is amped up 100000x  
> consider this: the black paladins fight is extra painful
> 
>  
> 
> find me on tumblr at [earthspaladins!](http://www.earthspaladins.tumblr.com)


End file.
